Scar Tissue
by nellabean
Summary: After an accident at Masamune's apartment, Ryuga is admitted to hospital. Ginga feels his guilt is eating him alive, and Madoka appears indifferent towards him. Yet friendship troubles and self-pity reveals to be the least of his worries. Warning: Some darker themes and mild violence in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfiction. I've been lurking around this site for a while and thought, "What the hey, might as well join the fun"**

**I'll admit, I'm quite the novice when it comes to writing, but how is anyone supposed to improve if they don't learn by trial and error?**

**Anywho, thanks to everyone who takes a few minutes out of their life to read this. I'm so grateful :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade or any of the settings, nor the characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 1 –**

It wasn't like he expected anyone to get hurt. It was a joke, he was just playing around. There was no way he could have predicted the events of last night's friendly gathering.

Now, as the grief struck young man sat with his knees drawn into his chest on the steps out front of Metal City Hospital, he struggled to cut out the flashbacks that threatened to push his mind overboard.

He failed.

He clearly remembered pulling on a painfully cliché ghost mask and donning himself in black clothing from head to toe. It was a difficult task to pull the mask over his thick, fiery hair, but he managed. He could still hear the cheery, laughing and slightly intoxicated voices of his friends on the apartment balcony. It was Masamune's apartment, and it was Masamune who invited the group over to celebrate the New Year.

His mind bound him in visions of the startled faces that were his friends as he jumped out from behind light blue drawstring blinds wielding a harmlessly blunt carving knife.

"BOO!" He shouted, trying to hold back an impish grin under the mask. He knew they couldn't see the smile pulling his lips upwards, however they'd be able sense it in his voice.

Two girls shrieked, one of them dropping her glass of slosh as she clung to her lean, yet masculine and laughing boyfriend for some sort of cover. Masamune simply rolled his eyes, almost as if he was expecting the ambush.

The prankster's vision was slightly off as he saw through the mesh covering the mask's eye holes, but his eyes fell on one member of the crew who had decided he wouldn't be drinking that night. First, noticing his facial expression. It was something surely like fear but not the sort brought about by a sudden jolt of surprise. Following Hyoma's gaze he saw that Ryuga, who had been highly out of his mind and leaning on the balcony railing for support began to lose footing. He stumbled and fell right over the balcony before any of his friends could catch him.

All laughing ceased, each individual Blader held still, perhaps too afraid of what they might see if one of them should look over that four-story balcony railing.

Seconds went by, and then Hikaru did something that broke her always collected and cool composure. She screamed.

* * *

A light, yet rough hand grabbed hold of Ginga's shoulder and shook it gently. He jumped slightly; shaking his head as if his brain were an etch-and-sketch board and his memories could be erased that easily. He then turned around to see the face of one of his closest friends, Masamune.

Masamune was rowdy, a little annoying to say the least. He didn't have much dress sense; he wore a green jumper, almost two sizes too big for his smaller frame. His hair however, a deep shade of gun metal black complete with various white highlights and a dash of red streaking to add some character, appeared to be a priority.

Masamune's deep chocolate eyes radiated sympathy and understanding, his expression was somber, yet hardened. Then he asked "Are you okay, Ginga buddy?"

He crept around and sat with his legs sprawled out in front of him beside Ginga. Ginga couldn't help but notice how close he sat. The two teens always fought about petty things, mainly food. But in a way Ginga suspected that Masamune's annoying habits were maybe his way of hiding just how much brotherly love the American boy harbored for him. Masamune was terrible was expressing any sort of affection, but that was okay with Ginga. He didn't mind.

"I'm fine," Ginga answered. "Just can't help feeling like all this is my fault 'ya know?"

"It's not your fault. It was a joke. We were all drunk and if you ask me it gives us all a good reason to wait two more years until we're old enough to legally drink. Ryuga would have tripped over his own feet regardless of what you did and ended up in the hospital anyway, what with the speed that guy was downing bottles like there was no tomorrow." He broke a smile, obviously trying to make light of the situation.

Yet Ginga still felt a pang of guilt deep in his chest and he wanted to curse himself every time he thought of Ryuga. 'What have I done, I'm such a bad person' He thought to himself, but he didn't vocalize the words. No, that would show vulnerability. Instead, he asked how Ryuga was holding up.

Masamune's smile faded. "He's… he's doing okay. He's a fighter, you know that."

"No, how's he really doing?" Ginga pressed stubbornly.

Masamune hesitated, seemingly trying to think of a good reply. He reached into his pocket and twirled a strange looking little wheel in his fingers. It was his Bey, and holding it seemed to give a feeling of comfort. When he caught Ginga's intense, golden stare, he put his Bey away and finally spoke. "I think the nurses should allow one more visitor. Right now, he's with Hikaru and Kyoya. Maybe you should come see him for yourself?"

Beating back the ferocious butterflies overflowing his stomach, Ginga nodded silently and stood, helping Masamune up with him. They started walking.

"Hey Ginga, you look tired. Wanna get a burger from the cafeteria first?" Masamune only asked because he knew how much Ginga loved burgers; he thought it might cheer him up a bit.

"No thanks buddy, I just want to see Ryuga." He said without stopping to face his friend.

A rather shocked and unnerved Masamune tailed Ginga through the sliding glass doors and into the hospital.

Dragging their feet through the cold hallways, the boys came to a room which read 'I.C.U #14."'

Intensive Care Unit Number 14.

Ginga noticed that the hospital had skipped room 13 most likely due to superstition. A soft but pungent smell of disinfectant wafted off the walls and into the boy's lungs. A draft blew through gently from heavens knows where, caressing their exposed skin.

Ginga shuddered._ 'I hate hospitals_' He thought.

They knocked on the closed door and waited until a girl with violet eyes wearing a cute formal suit covering an athletic looking build opened the door. For the first time, Ginga noticed her hands… her wrists. Despite how boyish she was, her fingers were long, thin and feminine. Her wrists, so small that they appeared easily breakable.

"Hi." She greeted quietly. She held the door open wide, welcoming them into the room. Inside, Kyoya was lying in a guest chair beside the hospital bed. He had his arms behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles. His torn shirt was lifted revealing a tightly toned and well defined abdomen. His eyes were shut, and he snored softly.

"How long's_ he_ been out?" Masamune asked Hikaru as he walked over to Kyoya, jealousy cloaking his face.

"Not long. He fell asleep just after you went to see Ginga."

Both turned their attention to Ginga who was standing over the hospital bed. Something wet; a tear, slowly trickled down his creamy cheek as he stared down at a tanned and muscular teen lying there unconscious.

Ryuga.

Ryuga was equipped with cords and suction pads. There was a drip inserted into his arm, and the monitor by the bed beeped slowly, but surely. A brace was wrapped around his torso, and both of his right limbs were plastered. Yet what Ginga found most unsettling was the amount of monitor wires and bandages on Ryuga's skull, indicating to Ginga that serious head injuries were involved.

Ginga's false bravery shattered. "I'm so sorry, Ryuga! What have I done, what have I done? Why did I have to play that stupid joke? I'm so sorry." The tears Ginga had previously managed to keep tucked inside busted out mercilessly. He was bawling now, he placed his palm over Ryuga's hand.

Masamune approached Ginga and placed his own hand on top of Ginga's. "He's gonna make it, he's a fighter," he repeated.

Hikaru left the white room; she could feel her own emotions bubbling within her. She hadn't realized that Kyoya had woken and silently followed her out into the hallway. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and pulled her into him from behind, planting a warm kiss on her cheek and patting her pretty blue tresses.

"C'mon Hikaru," He whispered, sleep still heavily present in his voice. "Be the girl I know you are and stay strong. Our friends need us now, and crying isn't gonna do much at all. Stiffen up those sweet lips, chin up, shoulders back… We're the crutches, and we'll help each other help them."

She wiped away her tears and followed Kyoya's command.


	2. Chapter 2

**Do you like it so far? :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade, neither do I own any of the characters or the settings.**

**Chapter 2-**

The conscious members of the gang prepared to leave the hospital. They had been sitting around Ryuga's I.C room for hours until Kyoya noticed the orange light of a sunset seep through the window, placing an impressive veil of color in the lifeless room.

"It's getting late, almost nightfall. We should go before the nurses tell us to," he said.

Hikaru, still clutching her boyfriend's khaki jacket nodded before placing a finger to her chin. "Oh but…what if he wakes up while we're not here?"

"Ah-ha! Don't worry about that," Masamune announced proudly. "I asked the nurses to contact us if anything happens. I gave her the B-Pit's number. I figured we'd all stay there tonight."

"Have you asked Madoka if we can stay?" Kyoya questioned.

"Of course and as if she'd care anyway."

"Always planning ahead, aren't you Masamune? Never stop to discuss a decision with the rest of us do you?" Hikaru accused glaring at him from across the room.

"Well, I am number one. Number one's gotta take charge." He placed his hands on his hips triumphantly.

The tomboy growled ready to pounce on Masamune, but Kyoya restrained her and turned his attention to Ginga who hadn't yet left Ryuga's bedside.

Masamune approached him. "C'mon, we're going now, I want you to see Madoka, I think she'd know what to s-"

Ginga cut him off.

"I don't think she's all that close to me anymore." His eyes glimmered, like nuggets of gold under a slow moving river. "She… I don't know, she's different with me now."

Pondering Ginga's words, Masamune looked to the couple near the doorway for answers only to receive solemn shrugs. He decided to let it go.

Kyoya took Hikaru's hand. "We have to go now," was all he uttered and he dragged Hikaru along with him.

"Meet you at the taxi rank!" she called through the corridor.

Masamune and Ginga stood in silence over Ryuga's body.

"Let's go, man," Masamune ushered.

"Yeah, alright," Ginga replied as he walked away wiping a tear from his eye.

* * *

Glumly, the gang made their way up through the pathway to the B-Pitt's door. Pot plants full of flowers surrounded them. Their floral scent was a nice change from the hospital. They hadn't spoken much on the taxi ride there, and Masamune was short five Yen of the trips' fee. Kindly, the driver let them go, probably taking pity on them judging by their forlorn faces.

Kyoya knocked on the door. There was no answer from the other side. "You sure she knows we're staying here tonight?" He asked Masamune.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied leaning forward almost bumping Hikaru sideways as he knocked a second time more urgently that Kyoya had the first.

**'BANG! CLACK! THUD!'** Noises came from inside Madoka's shop. The teens waited and were soon greeted by a small, moon-eyed girl. Chestnut colored locks shaped her face untidily. She wore large protective goggles on her head, which seemed to swamp her delicately small facial features.

"Oh, hi guys," Madoka said, and she gave a small wave.

"You look flustered, are you okay?" Hikaru quizzed, looking Madoka up and down.

"Yep, I'm fine."

Hikaru blinked, stunned. Madoka was never brief, if anything she was usually so over welcoming that she made guests uncomfortable.

Masamune pushed past Hikaru again and entered the shop, followed by Kyoya who was still holding Hikaru's hand. The shop was a little messy, there were tools and odd bits littered everywhere. However, the building still kept a very homely charm.

Hikaru brushed off Madoka's behavior quickly and turned to watch Ginga step though the doorway last. She also watched Ginga give Madoka a shy smile only to have Madoka look away and close the door, almost slamming his heels in it as she did.

"So, how's Ryuga?" Madoka asked meeting the eyes of everyone in the room except for Ginga's. "I wanted to come and visit…" She trailed off, distracted by a thought.

Taking a seat, the over sized green sweater wearer spoke first. "He's alright. I think he'll pull through, we didn't want to leave him but you know… visiting hours and all. Thanks for letting us crash here tonight; I think we'd all rather be together"

Kyoya nodded in agreement, but nobody seemed to notice.

Madoka's eyes fell to the floor. "That's okay, it's my pleasure. I just hope Ryuga wakes up soon. I'm really worried about him. And it seems I've only gotten to know him for such a short time. The real him, I mean."

"We're all worried," said Hikaru.

Madoka snapped up to attention, almost knocking her goggles off her head. "You'll take me to see him tomorrow, won't you?"

"We're all going back to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning," Ginga finally voiced. "Of course we'll take you." He tried without much effort to sound soothing as he could sense Madoka's concern. However, he also suspected that something else was amiss on her conscience.

"Thanks," she replied, and then she walked off into the kitchen leaving Ginga's pride a little burnt. Kyoya raised an eyebrow, and Masamune looked away rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. Hikaru wasn't the only one who noticed the coldness.

Kyoya motioned Ginga over to him with a slender finger. "Wanna talk? I want to ask you something."

Ginga nodded and the two walked off into a separate room leaving Hikaru and Masamune puzzled. Kyoya closed the door and sat down on the bed, he then patted the space beside him invitingly. Ginga sat and looked around the room. There were posters of Beys and various knick-knacks everywhere displayed on shelves along with a few photos stuck to the walls.

Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, Kyoya asked the question Ginga was waiting for. "You like her, don't you?"

Hesitantly, Ginga blushed a deep shade of crimson and nodded.

"And… she likes you." That wasn't a question.

"I thought so; I'd like to think so. But all of a sudden she's become real cold towards me. She used to be like my best friend, but ever since the other night, with what I did to Ryuga… I know she was growing close to him too, so what if…" He trailed off again.

"What if she blames you?" the darker adolescent finished.

"Yeah,"

Kyoya didn't answer; instead the two were interrupted by Masamune who suddenly burst through the door covering his eyes with his hand.

"Guys, Hyoma just got here," he said wearily.

"Why are you covering your eyes?" Both boys asked at the same time.

In the back of his conflicted mind, Ginga wanted to shout 'Jinx!' but he deemed this as inappropriate. Last night, he locked up his childish and fun-loving behavior and threw away the key.

"Well you both went off into the bedroom," Masamune placed emphasis on the word _'bedroom.'_ "And closed the door, I didn't want to… disturb anything."

"You obnoxious idiot!" Kyoya accused getting up and storming out of the room. He pushed Masamune into the door frame on his way out.

"Ow! Who do you think you are, Kyoya? Geez, just rolling though the place pushing people into walls, thinking you own the joint, assaulting whoever you like. It's not gonna get you very far, buddy!"

Silently, Ginga agreed. Masamune was definitely an obnoxious idiot, yet he was the sort of obnoxious idiot whose antics could shed light on even the gloomiest of situations. Ginga shook his head and laughed.

"Well, no point in being pessimistic is there? I'm finished with moping around and depressing myself over something I can't control, time to pull myself together and try to think of a way to fix all this."

"That's the spirit!" Masamune exclaimed, rubbing his arm where he had collided with the door frame from Kyoya's shove.

"Man up, Masamune."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade, any of the characters or any of the settings.**

* * *

**Chapter 3-**

Hyoma stood in the doorway of the B-Pit. He seemed to be unaffected by the occurrences of the last two days as he talked cheerily to Kyoya and Hikaru. Madoka was still nowhere to be seen.

As Ginga and Masamune approached their friends, Hyoma's shy smile melted away.

He turned to Ginga. "You okay?"

"Fine, how are you? Where have you been?" Ginga shot back a smile, determined not to let himself slink back into guilt. He found it a challenge to keep his guard up when everyone kept asking if he was okay.

"Yes, I'm okay too, I know Ryuga's in the hospital and that's the safest place for him to be. Truthfully, Ginga I think he'll be fine." He laid a hand on Ginga's shoulder.

"He will be," Kyoya said catching Ginga's glance. "I know that in the past he's been somewhat of a, oh how to put it… somewhat of a ruthless monster. But the guy's strong, have to give him credit for that."

Finally, Madoka emerged from the kitchen. She wore an old timely apron around her thin waist.

"Oh Hyoma good to see you, I'm glad you're here, and with perfect timing. I was thinking of making dinner, nobody can think clearly on an empty stomach and that's a scientifically proven fact. You're all hungry, right?" She gestured for them to come away from the entrance.

Ginga nodded along with the rest. He didn't know what was better, seeing Madoka happy or gaining the knowledge that food was on its way.

"Good, I decided on burgers. It's a no-fail meal."

Ginga's stomach growled loudly almost causing an echo. The group burst out in laughter, before Hikaru volunteered to help Madoka with preparing dinner. After the girls left the room, the boys cleared the dining table of a few broken Bey parts and tools, then sat down.

"So," Kyoya said folding his palms together. "Madoka seems a lot more approving of you now, doesn't she?"

"Wonder what made her come to her senses," Masamune added.

Ginga pondered the thought for a moment before commenting. "I wish I knew what I did wrong in the first place. All I can say is that I'm relieved she's actually looking me in the eye again. I don't know I'm too hungry for this sort of talk."

"And, she's making burgers. I think this may be a special 'I'm sorry for being so cold, Ginga' meal." Masamune lent back in his chair with his arms behind his head looking proud of his assumption.

As if only tuning into the conversation at that second, Hyoma asked, "Was Madoka mad at you, Ginga?"

"Yeah, and she sure was obvious about it. She wouldn't talk to me at all after the Ryuga incident."

Ginga flinched at his own words. _'Ryuga, Ryuga, try not to mention him,'_ he thought to himself.

"Oh… That's odd. Why do you think she was mad?"

Masamune cut Ginga off.

"Maybe it's her time of the month."

"You're disgusting," Kyoya scolded.

" You're disgusting for thinking it's disgusting. I asked some lady buying those white bullet shaped things at the supermarket about it a while ago, and she told me everything. It's normal and if it happened to me every month, I'd be pretty pissed off too."

"Point taken," replied Kyoya desperately wanting to end the topic.

Ginga lent over and whispered in Masamune's ear. "What happens to Madoka every month?"

Masamune slammed his palm into his face. "You know… that time of the month. Women stuff. Aunt Flo's come to town."

"Oh!" Ginga said in realization, giggling at his own idiocy. "Funny, Madoka's never mentioned to me that she had an Aunty Flo. She mustn't like her very much because she's never introduced me to her."

Masamune shook his head in disbelief and decided not to honor Ginga with a reply.

Kyoya's booming laughter filled the room. "I don't blame her; thank God she only drops by once a month."

Hyoma's usually smiling face recoiled with disgust. "Guys, can we not? We're about to eat."

* * *

"Oh yeah, I'm done," Hikaru said pushing away her third serve of burger, there was still half of it left. "We're great cooks Madoka, we should do this more often."

"Uff ooh aren't gonna finish that, can I haff it?" Ginga asked eyeing Hikaru's half-eaten burger.

"Finnish what's on your plate first… and what's in your mouth," Kyoya said.

Masamune butted in. "Hey, yeah! And besides, I've had my eye on that burger. I've mentally claimed it, it's mine."

Hikaru laughed and picked up a butter knife. She cut the half-burger in two quarters. "There, happy now?"

The boys glared at each other, evaluating the situation. Finally, they nodded satisfied.

"Not to worry, there's plenty left," Madoka said. "I knew who I was cooking for, so I made lots extra for you Ginga."

Masamune nudged Ginga's ribs under the table, when their eyes met Masamune raised his eyebrows up and down comically.

Hyoma was still working through his first serving. He never ate much; Ginga supposed that was why he looked so frail and thin.

"Hey Madoka thanks for the feed, you too, Hikaru," he stood up. "But I think I'd better get going, I've already stayed too long and I need to feed my dog. I can't enjoy a meal knowing that he hasn't eaten yet."

" Aren't you staying the night?" Ginga asked in between chews.

"I'd really like to, but I just can't. I was great seeing you all."

Madoka looked up. "Will you be okay getting home on your own?"

Hyoma nodded.

"Right, well one of the boys will call you in the morning before we leave."

Hyoma said his goodbyes and left the building.

The rest of the bladders continued to talk and eat until their stomachs bloated. Each felt contempt and relaxed, almost forgetting about Ryuga. They distracted each other from the cruelness of reality even if it were only for a few odd hours. Smiles crossed their worried faces, laughter burst and escaped from deep within their bodies.

It was almost as if nothing were a problem at all.

Then, Masamune noticed as he finished off the last burger he had endured a heated debate to claim for, that his eyes began to grow heavy with sleep. His eyelids weighed down with the endeavors of the long day past.

"12:30 am, man I'm beat, time for bed guys?"

His company agreed. Except for Ginga, who merely pouted, obviously still torn up over the loss of the last burger.

"Ginga, get over it. If you'd had eaten any more you'd have made yourself sick. Those eyes of yours are bigger than your belly," Hikaru teased as she collected everyone's plates and took them to the kitchen.

"Still had room for one more."

Madoka helped Hikaru with the plates. "Okay, bedtime for all of you before somebody hurts themselves. Ginga and Masamune can have the lounge room. Hikaru and Kyoya can have the spare room, and I'll take my own room of course."

"I don't want to share a couch with Ginga, why can't I have the spare room?" Masamune protested.

He felt a sharp knock to his ribs. Kyoya had elbowed him. "Did you help with dinner?"

Masamune shook his head.

"Then you get the couch."

"You didn't help with dinner either, what's the go with that huh?"

"My girlfriend helped."

Folding his arms across his chest, Masamune craned his neck to scan the room for Ginga, who he was sure would back him up here. He turned in his seat to look over at the lounge room, directly across from the dining room. There, he finally saw Ginga, eyes shut and slumbering sweetly, stretched out across the couch.

Later that night, Ginga was woken by screaming

* * *

**Right, so the next chapter might get a bit dark and OOC. You'll see what I mean if you choose to read it.**

**Thanks a bundle to anyone who reads this, means a lot to me. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade, the characters or the settings.**

**Chapter 4-**

* * *

Ginga immediately jumped to his feet, not caring that he had trod on Masamune who had been forced to sleep on the floor as there wasn't enough room on the couch.

"What the… Hey?" Masamune sat up in alarm. He caught sight of Ginga rushing up the stairs.

Ginga ran as fast as his legs could carry him, he tripped on the last step forgetting it was there but he did not falter. He collected himself and skidded down the hall to where the horrific screaming was origination from, Madoka's room. By now, the screaming had turned into a painful cry.

He turned the knob, busted inside and scanned the room for Madoka. His eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark, but he was able to make out a trembling figure sitting on the bed.

Closer to the window, the soft luminosity of moonshine lit the girls face, but only slightly. He held her face in his palms, able to feel her damp tears under his skin.

"Madoka, what's wrong, are you hurt?" He checked her over as best he could, but there didn't seem to be any injury.

She shook her head and pressed her lips together, humming as she tried to hold back a cry so she could tell him the problem. She opened her mouth, but only more wailing came out. The sound of her in so much hysterical distraught pierced his ears and his chest like a hot iron rod.

She rocked back and forth trying to breathe through her sobs, she was trying to speak. Ginga noticed that she was clutching the telephone in her right hand.

He peeled her fingers off it and held the same hand in his own. Placing the phone to his ear, he listened for some sort of clue, but all he heard was a dial tone.

He hung it up, sat down beside her and embraced her in a hold, as Masamune, Hikaru and Kyoya who had been standing at the door, woken by all the commotion entered the room. The boys stood back cautiously. Hikaru approached.

Worry plagued Hikaru's face, wrinkling her smooth skin. "What happened?"

"She won't tell me."

Madoka's breathing finally slowed. "They- they rang," she said.

"Who rang?" Hikaru asked, her gaze flitting from Madoka to Ginga.

"The hospital."

Ginga felt his stomach drop. _Oh no, please, please no._

"What did they say?"

"They… They said that Ryuga has passed. He,s dead, Hikaru. He's all gone and dead."

The room flooded with cries once again. This time, it was Hikaru's voice too.

Yet Ginga couldn't hear them. Ginga couldn't hear anything except for the sound of his own heart pumping. It was deafening.

_**'Thump, thump, thump...'**_

He let go of Madoka's hand and walked away from the two girls. Kyoya was already there comforting them. Ginga walked past Masamune who stood in a state of shock by the door. Masamune grabbed his wrist.

"Ginga… wait,"

Ginga paused but he didn't make eye-contact. He looked forward steadily until Masamune dropped his arm.

"Wait. It's not your fault."

Ginga kept walking. He walked down the corridor and descended the steps. He collected his Bey and put on his shoes. He placed his hands in his pockets, and then left the B-Pit. From here on, the world around him seemed to slow down.

He stepped out into the freezing darkness, and judging by the moon's position; dawn was less than an hour away.

Not knowing where he was going, he walked into the night. He walked for what felt like hours, but it was only a few minutes. He finally stopped when he came to a familiar place; the park.

It wasn't as friendly and serine as it was during day time. It felt twisted… eerie; night had a way of doing that.

It was here, that Ginga finally broke. He fell to the grass, moist with dew and lay there. A million things rushed through his head like a swarm of angry wasps trapped in a bottle, but his mind kept returning to the same thought.

_"It should have been me…"_

He turned his face to the starts and laid eyes on Pegasus's constellation. But tonight, the sight of his Bey's spirit did not move anything inside of him. No nostalgic feelings of desire to keep going. No soul filled courage swirled under his skin, through his veins and made him feel like he was glowing as what usually occurred.

No, not tonight. All he felt was guilt. Awful, gut retching guilt.

"Gotcha now." A familiar voice came from behind Ginga, yet his brain was too confused to place a face to the sound.

Ginga pounced to his feet, catching sight of the intruder behind him. They were wearing dark jeans, dark shoes, a dark shirt and a ski-mask. Ginga had yet to decide on the person's sex, as their voice was deep but their figure was awfully feminine.

"Tell me who you are!" Ginga demanded.

"In due time…" was all they muttered. The figure raised something above their head that glittered and reflected the moonlight, a knife.

It soon became clear to Ginga that they had no intentions of joining him on a midnight park picnic.

Ginga jumped to the side as the weapon came pummeling down with fierce velocity.

He felt his heart pump again, providing blood for his muscles and preparing his body for the defensive mechanisms known as 'Fight or Flight.'

Ginga chose Fight.

Without thinking, he leapt on the attacker sending them both crashing to the ground. They struggled together, yet Ginga's previous Guilt had altered into a blazing anger. He kept the mysterious individual pinned. Ginga raised an arm trying to pull away the mask, but as he did, they thrust the knife upwards missing his ribs by dangerously few millimeters. The attacker then brought the knife down again, this time succeeding in slicing through the flesh on Ginga's left side. Pain surprised Ginga and he let go for one precious moment. Blood was the single thing he could smell, and the knowledge that it was his own blood made him feel woozy.

This gave the knife wielder a chance to get the upper hand in battle. They flipped themselves and Ginga over so that they were now in the dominating position, waving the knife around preparing for the final stab. Ginga put his arm up to block the blow, receiving another deep wound. But this time he was able to keep his cool.

_'C'mon, Ginga,'_ he thought_ 'over power this freak or die._' His own words hit him harder than a coal train. This guy, or girl for that matter, was trying to kill him.

"I'm not gonna die tonight," he said aloud. From somewhere, Ginga found the agility and the strength to free himself from underneath. He jumped around to the back of the person, clamped his fists together and threw them down on the back of their neck. They fell forward, but sprung to their feet ready for round two.

_'A blow like that to that part of the head should have knocked this maniac unconscious_,_'_ Ginga thought._ 'Damn it, he's just not gonna go_ _down... don't be afraid though Ginga. Remember, to a predator, fear indicates weakness'._ (-Dean Koontz)

The freak lunged; Ginga pulled his fist back and swing madly. He was surprised, to say the least when he collided with bone. Ginga's opponent stumbled back but Ginga advanced still flinging his fists around wildly, not really having the slightest clue of what he was doing.

_'Jab, jab, right hook, jab.'_

**'BAM!'** The body collapsed to the ground no longer conscious, knocked out, but only for a few seconds. Soon the woke and realizing defeat, they crawled away and broke into a sprint. Ginga tried to catch them, but failed.

"Ginga Hagane, you _will _let your guard down soon. And when you do, I will come for you. You cannot take what I have claimed from me." Their husked voice carried though the park and faded.

Ginga didn't worry about figuring those words out just yet. Panting, the adrenaline left his body and slowly, the crippling sensation of pain began to strike.

The open wounds on his side and forearm poured blood like a drinking fountain and pooled around his shoes. He winced holding his breath thinking that doing so would somehow cease the pain. He knew he was losing too much blood; he needed to get himself some medical attention. Heaving his last ounces of strength together, he made his way back to the B-Pit.

Dawn was fast approaching, and he was grateful that the new light left no place for the criminal to hide.

* * *

**Told 'ya things would get OOC.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Firstly, Big thanks to DragonFang2011, Dreamlily, Jedi-Gingka and JuniperGentle for their reviews. The MFB fandom is so kind :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

**Chapter 5-**

By now, as he had finally made it back to Madoka's shop, the flow of Ginga's blood from his wounds had slowed. Still they burned with pain as each step he took irritated and ripped the already severed flesh, but at least the bleeding was stopping. He hoped it wasn't simply because he had no blood left to bleed.

He placed a hand flat on the B-Pit door, leaving a crimson imprint of his palm._ 'Damn, Madoka's gonna have to clean that later.'_

The door was already slightly open, but Ginga must have missed that. So when he lent on it for support, he fell right through the doorway landing on his torn forearm.

**"Ffff… fudge!"**

"Ginga!" Two voices yelled. Masamune and Madoka ran to him. Madoka aided Ginga to the kitchen by pulling his arm over her shoulder. Masamune started to hyperventilate and run on the spot, desperate as to know what he should do.

"Little help, Masamune?" Madoka asked.

"No, no it's fine. I can walk,"Ginga protested.

"Go get a towel and my medical box from the bathroom then, Masamune."

Masamune dashed upstairs, frantically waving his arms about.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Ginga put his back against the wall near the refrigerator and slid down it, assuming a sitting position. He took his blood soaked shirt off.

"Ginga, are you okay?"

_'Do I** look** okay to you, woman?'_ he wanted to shout. But instead he said, "I'm fine, just a few scratches."

Madoka frowned disapprovingly before Masamune ran in and threw the box along with the towel at her.

"Oh, God Madoka is he gonna die? I don't want him to die, I couldn't take it. What will I do?" He jumped on Ginga, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Don't die on me Ginga, old pal. I can't go on without you. Do you see a light? Stay away from the light, man. Don't go near it, turn around and run back. You can be number one from now on; you can have Kyoya's leftovers when he's done eating, whatever you want."

"Ma-sa-mu-ne I'm not dy-ing. Please stop shaking me-e-e-e" Each syllable he spoke separated as a result of Masamune's frenzy.

"Stop Masamune," Madoka scolded, to which he obliged and slunk away a little embarrassed at his own outburst.

"Who did this to you?" She began using the towel to wipe away the blood.

"They were dressed like a skiing instructor, their face was covered, and I couldn't make out any sort of feature… I couldn't even tell you if it was a boy or a girl. They had a knife, but I got the win. Then they ran off, telling me that I can't take what they've claimed. I have no idea who it was, but they said my name so they obviously know who I am."

"I wonder what all that means," Madoka thought aloud."These are real bad cuts but if we can get the bleeding to stop, a little antiseptic will do you wonders until we can get you to a doctor for stitching, you follow?"

"I follow…"

Looking at each of his friends, he could tell they were still crushed about Ryuga. Their faces were swollen, flushed and damp from crying. A wave of guilt shot through him and in comparison to the knife wounds, the pain in his chest overcame the pain on his physical body.

Madoka ripped the towel in two, handing one to Masamune. "We have to stop the bleeding. Here, hold this on his forearm and press."

Masamune looked at the towel, then at Ginga, then at Madoka. "I… I don't like blood," he whispered.

**'Bang!'** Masamune fell back onto the floor, passed out in a state of comatose.

Madoka sighed along with Ginga. She collected an ice pack from the refrigerator, wrapped it in paper towel and placed it on Masamune's head before returning to apply pressure to both Ginga's wounds.

"Thanks, Madoka. Hey where are Kyoya and Hikaru?"

"They went to look for you a little while ago. They were worried; we were all pretty worried about you, especially me."

Ginga let his eyes fall on Madoka's hands. The way she touched things so gently and with so much care seemed almost hypnotic to him. He watched her put the towels down and rummage through her medical box, retrieving a disposable cloth and a brown bottle of antiseptic. She tried to close the lid on the box, but there were too many various items toppling out so she gave up.

"This will probably sting. I'm sorry, I know how you hate all this medical stuff."

"It's okay." He flinched as she applied the soaked cloth to his side, but it didn't hurt too much. The smell of it was worse than anything.

"Hey Madoka," Ginga continued still trying his best to avoid eye-contact with her.

"Hm?" She started on his forearm.

"Ow… um, why were you all so worried? I mean, it was my fault with... you know. I thought you even hated me a little."

"What?" Madoka asked. She put away the antiseptic and grasped the bandages.

"No please don't think things like that. None of us blame you, _I_ don't blame you. Sometimes this world is hard. Tragedies happen Ginga, and sometimes people die. But you taught me a long time ago that no matter how hard it gets you've got to keep going or you'll be left behind… We could sit around for hours, days, weeks, months grieving and throwing the blame around but where would that get us? Alternatively, we could choose to look back on Ryuga and smile. We can stay strong, reminisce on everything he was, and laugh about all the memories he gave us, even if some of those earlier memories haunt our nightmares. By no means should we forget him, the pain of losing him will always be there. But one day, it will hurt less. Do you really think Ryuga would want a pity party? No, he'd hate that...

"The way I see it, we can either mourn his life or celebrate it; we can't take solace in the grief, Ginga, because to do so would be rejecting the blessing of our own lives. Life is a game of chance. It's full of heartbreak but it's also full of good times, everything depends on how you look at it. Life's a gift and every second we spend wallowing in regret, being anything but happy is another second wasted. It's another second we'll never see again."

Madoka, in all her wisdom had stopped tending to Ginga's wounds. When she realized she rushed to wrap bandages around his torso and arm.

Ginga had finally looked at her and now found that he couldn't draw his eyes away. He saw himself in the reflection of her goggles. Dried blood and smudges of dirt covered his face; he was shocked at how tired he looked. So, so very tired.

"Madoka, I don't know if I've ever told you this but I think you're so smart… I think you're really pretty too but that isn't why I like you so much. At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I like you because you're funny, and sweet, and headstrong. You're the glue that keeps everyone from falling to pieces. I know I can rely on you to guide me through the messes I get myself into. I feel like I want to protect you," he brought his hand up to her face and gently pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I never want to see tears in those crystal pools of light. I never, ever want to see you hurt."

She looked up at him, touching her face briefly where he had touched. "Ginga… what are you saying?"

_'She's gonna make me say it, isn't she? Well here goes nothin' I guess,'_

"I don't know, I guess what I might be trying to say is that I like you, a lot more that a friend. I have for a while, and I can't stop thinking about you. But it hurts to think you might not feel the same way about me."

She lent forward, tilting her head to the side. He watched her eyes move from one feature on his face to the next, analyzing him. After a short silence she gasped to draw in air, almost as if she had forgotten to breathe.

Then she said, "You're so silly, how could you not see how much I care about you? How much I need you around? I will never think any less than the best of you, no matter what you do. I'll always be here for you, if you need to cry or you need to laugh, or you need to say something you can't say to anyone else. I want to know about your dreams and how you think. I'll never laugh at your ideas and I'll gladly get caught up in all your crazy schemes. I will stand by you like a bishop through everything because that's what you'd do for me. I feel safe when I'm with you, I find that it's the only time I am completely content. You're amazing Ginga, I only wish you'd let me into you world sooner."

Ginga paused, eyes wide thinking for a moment before he spoke. He let his voice drop to a soft whisper barely loud enough for her to hear. "I love you…"

"I love you too Ginga…"

He lent forward eliminating any space between them. He put a hand on her back pulling her into himself. Their lips met so lightly and he found himself marveling in the flavor of her. She tasted so sweet, like blueberry bubblegum.

He wanted the kiss to last forever, but it ended as abruptly as it had begun when they heard the sound of the bell tinkle signaling that the front door had been opened.

"Couldn't find him, I'm thinking we should call-" Kyoya came striding in oblivious to what was going on around him until he noticed Masamune lying on the floor. "Wow… Finally had enough of him, Madoka?"

Ginga and Madoka pulled apart before Kyoya could clue on. Hikaru followed pursuit shortly after also spying Masamune; however her attention focused more on Ginga.

"Ginga, why are you all bandaged up? We've been looking for you all morning, you're alone for half an hour and you come back looking like you've been in a war. Do you know how worried we were? Do you? Where have you been?"

"Relax, mom," Ginga teased. "I'm fine. Well, now I am anyway." He smiled at Madoka.

Kyoya knelt down next to Masamune and poked him a few times. "Tell us a story then, Ginga. What happened?"

"That will have to wait," interrupted Madoka as she stood up almost too swiftly. "We need to get you to a hospital."

"I'll call a taxi." Hikaru walked off into another room.

"A taxi… Why, where are we going, what did I miss? Kyoya stop poking me."

"Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Masamune's awake." Kyoya added sarcastically.

In reply to Masamune's question, Madoka answered, "Oh, you didn't miss much."

* * *

**My biggest weakness is romance writing, but I had to mix a little of it in because who doesn't love the occasional pairing? :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

**Chapter 6-**

Kyoya was very uncomfortable. He stood in a private hospital room holding Ginga's hand while a salt-and-pepper haired doctor stitched Ginga's side. Kyoya tried not to smirk as the sight of the doctor almost made him crack; he wore large, circular spectacles that magnified his eyes into something huge. His face was pudgy, and his nose squashed up more like a snout. Respectively, the doctor resembled a human blow-fly.

Of course he had been given a heavy dose of anesthesia, but Ginga still demanded support and Kyoya had drawn the short straw. Madoka wanted to accompany Ginga but Hikaru kept her outside to talk. Kyoya didn't know what about, the last he'd seen them was when he was making a phone call to Hyoma in order to keep him updated and the two girls had been giggling like eight-year-olds who'd just heard a dirty joke. And Masamune, well he couldn't have him passing out again now could he? No, Kyoya knew that if that happened, he himself would have to carry him.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no."

The doctor looked up in alarm, somehow widening his already colossal eyeballs. "What's the matter, can you feel it? I was sure I gave you enough anesthetic…"

"No," Ginga replied touching the back of his free hand to his forehead dramatically. "It's just… I can see it."

Both Kyoya and the doctor rolled their eyes.

"Then don't look," Kyoya muttered. He felt Ginga squeeze his hand tightly and watched him clamp his eyes shut.

"So Doc' how long's he gonna be in here?"

"Well, it's standard that we keep him overnight. He's free to go in the morning."

Suddenly, almost as if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

Kyoya called, "Come in."

Looking Kyoya's way with his eyes still closed Ginga said, "It's my room, and I get to say that."

Madoka, Hikaru and Masamune entered the white room. Their shoes clacked on the laminated floor causing Ginga to open his eyes. When he saw Masamune's distraught expression, he asked what was wrong.

""Them!" Masamune pointed a finger at the two girls as he jolted around the bed to join the boys, holding his hands over his ears "Them and their girl talk."

"Then you shouldn't eavesdrop, should you?" Hikaru sneered.

"Then you shouldn't eavesdrop, should you?" He mimicked her in a high pitched voice before letting his tone return to its nasally self. "I wasn't eavesdropping, practically the whole waiting room heard you two. Ever heard of an inside voice? Use it sometime!"

Kyoya but in, "And this, Masamune, is why you don't have a girlfriend."

Masamune huffed out his chest in defense. "Either does Ginga, so your argument is invalid."

"Well, actually…" Madoka began.

A look of shock horror crossed Masamune's face. "Oh no, Ginga wasn't the guy you were talking about out there, was he? Please, Ginga tell me the stories aren't true, say it ain't so!"

Ginga nodded through his awkward position before smiling widely at Madoka.

"What has been heard cannot be unheard."

"Okay then guys," commented the doctor, clearly also disturbed. "All done here, I'm going to leave you now, rest up Ginga. And remember; only one person can stay with Ginga tonight."

With that, he turned and almost tripped over himself in his mad dash to leave the room.

The group paused for a second and then Madoka looked at Ginga sympathetically.

"Ginga, I wanted to stay with you tonight, I really wanted to. But I have so much work to catch up on and Hikaru and Kyoya want to stay at the B-Pit tonight so it's easier for us to come pick you up in the morning. Is that okay?"

"Perfectly fine." He lent up and pecked her, causing blood to pool underneath her soft cheeks. Masamune pretended to vomit.

It had begun to rain lightly outside. Raindrops formed on the window pane and raced each other to the bottom. The over-hanging clouds cast a depressing shadow onto the world making it seem darker than it usually was at that time.

"We should go," Hikaru said. "Before the rain gets any heavier."

Madoka agreed. She hugged Ginga tightly, maybe holding him for a little longer than necessary, and walked over to lean on the door frame in wait of the others.

"See ya, Ginga," Hikaru said. "Get better soon." She turned to Masamune and gave him a nod.

"Ginga, you can let go of my hand now." Kyoya voiced dryly.

"Oh, right."

"See you in the morning," he replied. He refused to acknowledge Masamune's presence as he left the room with Hikaru. Madoka mouthed an "I love you," before racing off down the corridor after them.

He listened as their footsteps became less and less audible, then he turned gravely to face his company.

"Well, I guess we're bunkin' together. It's just you and me for the rest of the night."

Ginga sighed, his stay in hospital just got a lot more interesting.

* * *

"Masamune, that's stealing!"

Lighting and thunder plundered outside.

Masamune grinned at Ginga as he proceeded to shove boxes of disposable gloves, tissues and various single servings of jam and other condiments into a plastic bag. "Relax; don't get your knickers in a knot. It's not stealing if I don't get caught, and I Masamune Kadoya, am one smooth dude."

"No you're not."

"Why yes, actually I am." He decided he'd finished hijacking the hospital and sat down cross legged on the end of Ginga's bed.

"Why no, actually you're not."

"Why yes, actumufful," Ginga swung a hand up to cover Masamune's flapping mouth.

"Look, there's somebody at the door." Both boys strained their eyes to see the shadow of twin shoes under the door, made visible by the glowing light in the hallway. Whoever stood on the other side soon walked away, seemingly aware of being detected.

Masamune shrugged. "So… probably just a nurse."

"At this hour? They only make check-ups every sixty minutes through the night. And she would have come in, wouldn't she?"

"Nope, stop being so paranoid, Loopy."

"I'm not being paranoid, c'mon man think about it. Isn't it creepy that they didn't even come in? They just stood there, like they were listening."

Masamune's lips puckered in thought. "Yeah… I guess."

Very suddenly his eyes widened in horror. Lighting lit the room briefly almost making his face seem frightening.

"Ginga, what if it was a ghost?"

"Now who's loopy, Loopy?"

"Ginga get real, we're in a hospital. Aside from cemeteries and run down abandoned warehouses, hospitals are the most haunted places out. It's a known fact."

_'He has a point there,'_ thought Ginga.

They sat in silence for a while, evaluating the possibilities of ghosts. Then their eyes met, fear present in their suspicious stares.

"Nah," they both laughed in union, they swatted their hands as if to wave away the crazy idea.

**'THUD'**, a knock at the door.

Ginga jumped in fright and clung to his friend. "Masamune run, it's every man for himself!"

Masamune struggled in Ginga's iron grip. "I'm trying to run but you're holding me! Take him, take Ginga you unholy thing. He's the one who's been stealing Kenta's birthday candy!"

As the door slowly creaked open, Masamune gave up the struggle and pounced on Ginga. The two cowered together, shaking as they prepared for an early death. But when the intruder spoke, the voice was calm and soothing.

"Boys, boys, don't be so dramatic. I just came to check on you."

Cautiously, they opened their eyes to envisage a short, fairly round nurse giving them a bewildered glare. When they caught on that they were hugging they separated from each other like incompatible magnets.

"Oh, sorry M'am… We're okay," said Masamune looking at his hands.

"Yeah, sorry," repeated Ginga.

"It's perfectly fine; just call me if you need anything." She turned to leave and had reached the doorway when Ginga called out after her.

"M'am, was anyone sent to check on us about, oh, say five minutes ago?"

She touched a finger to her chin. "No, nobody was sent at all. I'd know as there's only one other nurse with me and this is the first time we've done rounds in this hallway tonight, not a soul has been down here. It's nice to have a quiet evening sometimes."

Masamune raised his finger accusingly at Ginga and said, "My friend thinks this place is haunted."

"No I don't it was you who said that, liar. Honestly, M'am I swear it was him."

"It's okay man, it's okay. You don't have to be embarrassed."

"But it was you!"

The nurse simply chuckled to herself muttering something about "teenage boys and overactive minds" as she left the room closing the door behind her.

"Great Masamune, now she thinks I'm crazy."

"Well, what makes you think she's mistaken?"

"I'm perfectly sane, Dad had me checked."

"That's what crazy people say. It's always the ones who think they're not coo-coo bananas that wind up in the back of a van, wearing a straight jacket on their way to the funny farm."

"Shut up you idiot. Besides, they don't use strait jackets anymore… they sedate you."

"Yeah, you'd know wouldn't you?"

Ginga scowled and balled his fists.

Yet again, thought struck as Masamune snapped his fingers to illustrate his excitement. "Eureka, I've had another marvelous plan Ginga!"

"What is it now? It better be more realistic than the last marvelous plan where you decided to hold a firework show in your mother's back yard. That didn't end very well, did it?."

"No, not really... On the bright side, the explosion left a nicely sized hole in the ground which you have to admit, makes for a great place to Bey battle. But this is ten times better than that plan. Okay, get this... how about you and I explore this hospital and go ghost hunting?"

For the first time, Ginga wondered if Masamune really was making him lose his marbles because the idea of ghost hunting actually sounded kind of enticing.

"Okay, I'm in."

"You're what?" Masamune looked surprised. "Oh, yes of course you are."

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, Ginga copied him. They walked over to the door and opened it just enough for them to peer out of. Within their vision, they spied the front desk. There were no nurses, it was completely vacant.

"Huh, piece of cake," gloated Masamune as he shrunk into the hallway and pressed his back against the opposite wall. "C'mon, hop to it, Ginga."

Ginga hesitated. "Are you sure about this? I mean, doesn't this seem like asking for trouble?"

"Ginga my good man, when have I ever lead us to trouble?"

"Well, there was all those times whe-"

"Don't answer that. Hurry up, let's go down to the first floor and make our way up."

"If you're sure…" Ginga followed Masamune's lead and together they scampered to the end of the hallway coming to an elevator and a staircase. They chose the stairs as they tried to muffle their laughter and avoid falling over each other's feet. Eventually, the daring duo arrived at the first floor almost passing out with excitement. The raging storm outside began to interrupt the electricity service in the hospital causing the florescent lights to flicker on and off occasionally.

Wondering about the deserted pathways, Ginga's ears perked up.

"I don't want to sound like I'm over reacting, but I swear someone's following us."

Masamune rolled his chocolate eyes and faced his red-headed friend. "What do you mean?"

"Footsteps. I hear footsteps."

"Ginga, I believe we may have found ourselves a ghost to bust."

"No, don't say that." Just as Ginga finished his sentence, both boys heard the undeniable sound of shoes on floor. What Ginga found to be rather unsettling was that the footsteps seemed to be within a very close radius.

"Come on, man. Let's keep moving," pressed Masamune as he continued on his trail and rounded the hallway corner.

Still entranced by curiosity Ginga hadn't realized that Masamune had walked away until he went to grab his company's sweater. It then dawned on him, that he was completely solitary except for the sound of crushing thunder outside the hospital.

"You make this too easy, Hagane," came a voice from inside one of the rooms that lined the corridor.

The door that concealed the voice creaked open and there emerged a young male wielding a bottle and a cloth soaked in a corrosive smelling substance. Ginga screamed in sudden fright for Masamune, yet he didn't have time to react or defend himself. The stranger grabbed Ginga too quickly, hitting him on the head with something hard before wrapping his forearm around Ginga's neck and holding the cloth to his face until he stopped moving. He then proceeded to drag his dead weight the short distance to the elevator at the end of the now silent hallway.

"Masamune!" The multi-color haired adventured heard Ginga's voice carry through the hospital._ 'That sounded pretty far away,'_ he thought.

He rotated on his heels in order to see his friend, but what he found surprised him. A long, dark empty passage lit by a flickering ceiling light. No other soul was present but that of his own.

"Ginga, where'd you go?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

**Chapter 7-**

"Ginga wake up. You'd better not be dead, wake up." A gruff voice slowly ebbed Ginga into consciousness. His head throbbed with pain. He felt warm liquid trickling from the source of the hurt and down his face, matting his hair.

Perplexed, Ginga glanced around the room he was in. His vision was less than perfect but he soon realized that it was an old fashioned hospital room. Dust and debris caked every surface, from the bench and cabinets at his left, to the bed opposite him. The bed was unlike one he'd ever seen in his life before, but searching his memory he recognized it from old early 1900 movies he'd watched. It was dark, the only light source were two candles that sat side by side on the bench. Cobwebs had gathered in each corner and all along the ceiling. The floor seemed to have been pulled up long ago. It was not laminated nor carpeted, it was simply solid concrete. There was a low set window although it was completely blacked out. The scent that hung in the air was stuffy, stale and terrible.

Upon further inspection, he realized he was sitting upright in a wooden chair. He tried to get up yet he was bound to the chair by rope that was tied snugly around his waist and confined his arms behind his back. His ankles were also tied to the chair legs.

"What the hell is going on?" he said aloud to himself.

"Ginga, answer me."

Someone was here with him? Ginga turned his head to the right, scanned the room and laid eyes on someone he never thought he'd see again. He had to squint as he was still quite drowsy, and he wondered if he was hallucinating.

"Ryuga! You're alive?" Oh, he'd hug him if he could.

"Only just," Ryuga breathed. "Listen; there are two of us now. I hate to admit it, I really do, but with your help I think I can get us out of here. We need to think, need to come up with a way free ourselves and turn the tables on this freak." His voice was raspy, weaker.

"What freak? And oh Ryuga… What have they done to you?"

Ginga's glee soon evaporated and was replaced with dread. Ryuga was tied to a second chair in much the same manner as himself. His expensive jeans, torn in places, were blotched with dried blood and dirt. Covering his bare torso and arms were various cuts, bruises and small burn blisters. Ryuga's face seemed to receive the most attention; purple and black bruises swelled his face and disguised his usually handsome features. A long gash which had begun to heal over ran from his eye-brow to his chin and continued halfway down his bronzed chest. He still had stitching on his skull from the hospital, but his casts had been removed. More burn blisters clustered on the right side of his face, Ginga thought they looked like cigarette burns.

The mutations rendered Ryuga almost unrecognizable, but when Ginga locked eyes with the other young man all doubt left his mind. The same blaze of amber inferno was present, it was like wildfire. In his stare, Ryuga held his own uniquely fierce look of determination. It was obvious that he hadn't given up, Ginga almost felt stupid for pitying him. This was Ryuga. If it wasn't his will to live that kept him from crumbling, it was his will to claim revenge, and this wouldn't be broken so easily as the result of a few measly bumps and scratches.

"Never mind, it's in the past. Freak boy's been holding off killing me until he caught you… He wants us to perish together, Ginga, that is why we need to escape now. When he gets back… our hands are bound, there's nothing stopping him from taking a knife to our jugulars and ending us. When we free ourselves, we'll need to act quickly and if it comes to it, we'll need to kill before we're killed."

Ginga's stomach dropped. He didn't fully understand what was going on, nor what was about to happen but he knew he had no other choice but to trust Ryuga with his life. Literally.

He so dearly wished he could be whisked away to somewhere warm and familiar. For a second, he closed his eyes and tried to envision himself lying on the lush grass of Bey Park as the sun beat down on his face. He imagined that he was safe, Ryuga was safe, their friends were around them talking and bonding happily as hours went by carelessly.

But, he knew that that it was impossible for such things to occur, escaping into fantasy would be unhelpful right now, to say the least.

"But what's goi-"

"You'll know everything soon, we don't have much time so don't waste any."

"Okay, okay, so what's plan A?"

Ryuga laughed. "Plan A? Plan A better work because we ain't got a plan B up our sleeves. I can get my hands out of this figure eight knot if I try, then, I need you to act," he nodded towards Ginga's feet. "In his haste this clown has forgotten to remove your shoes. Using them you've got a chance to sort of wedge your feet out of the knot, then once you can move go to the bench over there. I've watched him light up cigarettes and candles with a box of matches he's left on top of it. Pray to whatever God you believe in that there are enough matches to allow me to burn my binds and I will then do the same with yours. To get the box, you will push it onto the ground with something... that parts up to you. Then pick it up with your toes. We'll need to pick the lock on the door somehow, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Ginga nodded hoping that he looked serious enough to convince Ryuga that he understood his instructions.

"Ryuga, tell me how to get my hands out of these damn ropes, then I can do everything and get us out of here. You don't look like you should move; you're too weak for this." He spoke out of genuine concern.

"Watch who you call weak," Ryuga snarled. "I'm immobile and battered yet I am not powerless. And Ginga, I won't allow you to complete the first part of this, not by a long shot. I won't have you do what I'm about to."

"W-what are you about to do?"

He wished he'd looked away. Without warning, he watched Ryuga's hands twitch behind his back as he took hold of one in the other. He saw him use a thumb to press down on his partnering thumb joint, resulting in a sickening, crunching sound filling the room.

Ryuga's face turned red with the pain, yet he didn't scream or cry. The same couldn't be said for Ginga.

"NO, stop! We'll think of another plan,just stop breaking your hand!" Ginga yelled, panicking.

"There isn't enough time for another plan, suck it up. This is not the situation to have a weak stomach."

**'CRUNCH'** Ryuga twisted his hand around in such a way that he'd broken his own wrist too, leaving it limp and flexible. His hand was now narrow enough because of the new position of his thumb to slip through the rope without much effort. Easily, he could have freed his other hand but he kept it around his in-tact hand.

Trying to resist the urge to faint or reject the entire contents of his stomach, Ginga started wiggling out of his shoes.

"No!" Ryuga's voice boomed. "Not yet, he'll be back soon. Don't let him catch you in the middle of the act."

Surely enough, the door groaned open and a body entered the room. They were holding a bucket and a brown satchel. Relief washed over Ginga's flustered thoughts instantly.

"Hyoma," Ginga stuttered. "Boy am I glad to see you. Give us a hand here, will you? We'll explain later, but we need to get out of here right now!"

Briefly, Hyoma smiled at the two young men, his gaze danced from one face to the other. His own expression twisted into what looked like glee. He clicked his tongue and shook his head with an eerie smile. He then proceeded to toss the contents of the bucket onto Ginga.

Ginga was abruptly soaked to the bone in an icy liquid that he hoped was water. The shock from the cold temperature left him stunned; he opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, but voiced no words.

Hyoma erupted with laughter, folding his grimly thin hands over his stomach. The laughter began to cripple him over and he placed a hand on the bed for support as tears began falling down his cheeks.

"You're absolutely insane," Ryuga remarked. "What the hell was the point of that?"

Almost instantly, Hyoma's laughter ceased, he crossed the room in one long stride and struck Ryuga with the back of his hand. Ryuga didn't react; he was focused on making Hyoma think his hands were still tied.

"Just felt like it," Hyoma replied in a disturbingly upbeat tone. He was having fun.

By now, Ginga had returned to his senses, he shook his damp hair out of his face and eyed the powder-blue haired Hyoma. The blood from his head injury mixed with the water and stained his shirt. "Hyoma, I-I can't believe it... it's you who's responsible for all this?…Why are we here, what do you want with us?"

A shadow cast Hyoma's face as he turned his head to face Ginga. He lent back on the bed, taking out a cigarette packet. "Oh… well I guess I have some explaining to do."

"You're damn right about that."

"I hope you're not still ditsy from the chloroform, I'm not telling the story twice. Shall I start at the beginning?"

"Please, do."

"New Years Day," Hyoma began, he gazed off into nothingness. "Madoka, oh Madoka, what a pretty little flower she is. She approached me early that day. She'd been running around all morning trying to find each member of our unofficial group of friends so she could invite them to Masamune's apartment. When she asked me, well I was delighted. What better way to spend New Year's than with Madoka in my presence, right? Anyway, as you can probably gather I accepted eagerly. I was so happy that I lent in to kiss her cheek, just to say thank you and show a bit of attention, hoping that she might piece my actions together and realize I'd been flirting with her for months prior."

Ginga's face distorted in protective rage and confusion, "Madoka?"

Hyoma gave a heavy sigh and continued. "You can imagine how I felt when she pulled away… she awkwardly, oh very awkwardly said goodbye to me and ran off afterwards. After she left, I'll admit I got a bit cranky. I went to my house and smashed a few things around; I do hope the neighbors didn't hear me screaming. I considered kidnapping her, locking her up and keeping her though I could never hurt Madoka. Not Madoka.

"So I thought. I thought and I thought. I soon realized that Madoka could love me after all, she _should_ love me. All I had to do was take out the competition. At Masamune's gathering, I stayed sober so as to keep my judgment spot on. I watched the way she blushed when he talked to her and when he stumbled around like a drunken duck. She couldn't keep her eyes off him; it was him I had to finish."

"Who was _him_?" Ginga asked.

Hyoma pointed at Ryuga who sat silently in his chair, not really paying attention. Ginga supposed he'd heard the story before.

"Him, it appeared that Madoka had a crush on Ryuga. So I planned my next move carefully. At Masamune's apartment, I was on my way back from the kitchen to fetch a soda when I saw Ginga in Masamune's room childishly dressing up to no doubt try and scare us. I joined the rest on the balcony, waited for Ginga to jump out, and when everyone's attention was preoccupied I gently pushed an already unsteady Ryuga into the direction that would surely result in him tumbling over the railing and falling to his death.

"It hurt me to see Madoka so sad, but I knew it was for the best. Then, by some freak incident the bastard managed to survive? I mean c'mon, give a guy a break! I'd just gone to the trouble of planning all that for him to bounce right back, fresh as a daisy?_ Screw that…_

"While you, Hikaru, Kyoya and Masamune were at the hospital, I visited Madoka. I tried to comfort her, but she was resistant. I lost control of my thoughts and kissed her before telling her how I felt. I expected her to crumble and admit her secret love for me too, but she told me that she didn't want to come between you and me, Ginga. She said she's had feelings about you for quite some time now and she knew that if she were to go out with me, there was no way she'd have a chance with you…

"That's when you lot knocked on the door. She told me to leave through the window, said she'd forget about everything that'd just happened... I left, and vowed to erase you next."

Understanding struck Ginga then, and he thought, _'that's why she was so weird at the B-Pit. She wasn't mad, she was guilty. She didn't want me to know what Hyoma was doing in case she started an argument'._

"I decided to finish off Ryuga first. I came back to the B-Pit to eat and abolish any possibility of looking suspicious. I couldn't eat those burgers though, knowing she'd made them especially for you.

"After saying goodbye to everyone at Madoka's shop, I went to the hospital. Since Ryuga has no listed family, it was not difficult to convince the nurses that I was his brother who had come to sign him out. Ryuga had just woken up and was stable enough to leave. I deceived him, telling him that you guys had sent me to collect him. Of course, he wanted to go his own way but I told him you had something to show him. He's a curious one, this Ryuga. We walked to an elevator, I hit him a few times with a hammer I'd brought with me in my satchel being careful not to whack him so hard as to kill him, and I dragged him down here. This is part of the hospital, you know… this is an old building and this underground room seemed to have been forgotten when they renovated the place. I only know of it because my mother showed it to me, she used to be a nurse. One of the oldest here, so only she knew about it. If not for me, the secret would have died with her.

"Anyhow, I told the staff not to bother ringing you and I myself made a call to Madoka on a private number, telling her;"

Hyoma rose his voice to a remarkably convincing, girly pitch,

"Hello, sorry to ring you so late but I am a doctor from Metal City Hospital and I have some grave news for you. All my condolences 'mam, but your friend has passed."

"I could have killed Ryuga then, but I wanted you here for the party, Ginga. I went to the B-Pit, but came across you in the Park. You'd practically set yourself up, all alone there in the dark. We had that little tiff, and I'll graciously bow to defeat, I never was a strong boy. I suppose my fitness levels have dropped too, on account of how I've taken up smoking. I've just been under so much stress lately... I came back here, played with Ryuga for a bit, and then I got a phone call from Kyoya telling me about your accident and how they were bringing you to hospital. I waited until nightfall planning to just go into your room and take you, but you and that_ 'number one'_ idiot friend of yours made it easier than I expected."


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you again to all you wonderful, beautiful people who're following this story. I've been reading a lot more Fanfiction lately, and I simply can't believe some of the talent I'm finding on here. When you all make it big as authors in the future -which you no doubt will, because it would be a crime for skills like some of you posses to go undiscovered by the world- make sure you hint your Fanfiction name in the blurb of published books so I can sit there and say 'Oh, I used to read Fanfics from this chick/guy'. ;)**

**And of course my apologies to Hyoma and Hyoma fans for portraying him as a psychopath. He just seems so delectably odd to me, that I had to wonder if he had a few screws loose. I'll have to think about writing something in favor of him to make it up to him. (hehe)**

**I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

**Chapter 8-**

Ginga's eyes glistened and danced with emotion as he watched Hyoma's every movement. He desperately searched his child-hood friends' being for any sort of remorse or sign of rue, though he couldn't find a trace. He felt that all too familiar grief or another similarly painful sensation weigh down on his shoulders, and gosh it was heavy. He wondered where the boy he'd grown up with had gone. Was he even there in the first place? That boy wasn't present in that room at the current hour, Ginga was sure. What stood before him, was a mad man. This wasn't Hyoma, this was a jealous psychopath. A sick, twisted shadow of an old friend that was hell-bent on a slow, sadistic murder.

Ginga couldn't take the loss. "Hyoma, what's wrong with you?"

Hyoma almost looked surprised. The soft lighting from the candles gave a warm tinge to his skin. "Nothing's wrong with me. Nope, not me. You're the one who's wrong, both of you. I'm merely a human being; look deep enough inside any of us and chances are that you'll find a something frightening. This time, it's my chance to be the hero and get the girl. I've waited on the sidelines as nothing more than an underdog for too long… You just… you don't understand me, do you? In Madoka I found someone who would finally hear me out, treat me like I was important. She reminds me that I'm alive, that I'm breathing, feeling… I want her, I have claimed her, she's mine. And damn you both, you're not going to take her from me if I can help it!"

Ryuga's harsh voice clashed with the echo from Hyoma's outburst so suddenly that Ginga would have jumped if he could. "Well take a hint Freakshow, it doesn't look like she wants_ you_. How much respect can you have for her if you're trying to make her love you against her own will? Do you honestly have nothing else to offer her, so you'd kill off two of her friends hoping that she'll love you then? Praying that she'll go to you for comfort? Coward. You're weak and you're depressingly pathetic. You make me sick."

Ryuga shouldn't have said that, Ginga could almost feel Hyoma's rage expanding and heating the room. Hyoma's hands shook, he froze up for a moment, his muscles locking. He took a step towards Ryuga clutching the bag he had brought with him, and then he swung the bag full force across Ryuga's face. Ryuga grunted. Whatever was in the bag gave a light clinking sound as it met Ryuga's cheekbone.

Following the attack Ryuga smirked, satisfied with the reaction he'd gotten and then he spat in Hyoma's face.

Hyoma whipped away the saliva with the back of his hand and returned Ryuga's smirk with a loathsome glare.

"You're first," he breathed. He put a hand in the bag and pulled out a long, clear syringe. He dug his nails into Ryuga's hair and yanked his head to the side, exposing his vulnerable neck. From across the room, Ginga could clearly see Ryuga's pulse thump faster on his pressure point.

"This," Hyoma explained calmly. "Is filled with air. One decent sized bubble in your veins will travel to your heart in a matter of seconds. It's a form of execution known as air embolism. And you know what happens if air gets to your heart, right Ryuga? It blocks blood flow. Pop goes the weasel."

Ginga began wailing in terror as he felt his own heart might explode. "Stop, don't do this Hyoma! Please, stop, stop!" He struggled around in his chair trying to free himself but to no avail. The ropes on his wrists rubbed against his skin, creating friction burns but he didn't care. He needed to help Ryuga someway, somehow. Never before in his life had he ever felt so utterly helpless.

Hyoma put a finger to his own lips and hushed Ginga. "Shh, it'll all be over soon."

Then, Ginga had an idea. If Hyoma really had lost his mind, then all he had to do was play the crazy card to get Hyoma out of the room one last time and give himself and Ryuga a chance. He could see Ryuga balling his unbroken hand behind his back, preparing to go out swinging. Sure, he could probably deliver a decent punch but then what? The rest of him was still tied to a chair.

Just in time, Ginga yelled a proposal that brought both Hyoma and Ryuga to a dead stop.

"Hyoma, stop! I have an idea but if you kill Ryuga now, it's not going to work."

Ginga saw Hyoma turn his head to face him; he gathered he'd gotten his attention. "Just hear me out."

"I'll humor you," Hyoma said, holding the syringe just millimeters from Ryuga's neck. "But make it snappy, I don't have all day."

Ginga had to be careful; he examined his words repeatedly over in his head before letting them tremble from his lips. "Well, did you ever think that you might go to jail if anybody finds out you killed us? I know a way that's completely fail-safe. Whatever you're planning to do in order to avoid being caught is nowhere near as good as this."

Hyoma laughed and pulled the syringe away as his attention turned to Ginga for the moment. Ryuga sighed in relief. "Why on earth would you want to help me stay out of prison, Ginga?"

"Because if we die, and you go to jail, who's left to comfort Madoka huh? She'll be crushed; she has no one else to cry to but you. Do you really want to risk leaving her in that state?

Hyoma's face dropped in shock; he touched his free hand to his chest and shook his head vigorously. "No, never."

Ginga felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead. "Then let us write suicide notes. Go to the front desk and get two sheets of paper and a pair of pens. We'll write letters to our families and friends so then all that's left for you to do is to arrange our bodies in a convincing position, wipe your prints, take care of any evidence and you're on your way. Make it look like a suicide pact, we killed each other. You won't be suspected at all"

"I don't know if I should trust you, though it's a much better idea than my original plan of simply leaving you both down here for the rats to eat."

The thought of his body being dishonored in such a way made Ginga shudder._ 'Eaten by rats, how respectful.'_

"I care about Madoka as much as you do, so if my hour is up I want to make sure she'll be alright without me."

Hyoma hesitated; he looked both captives over, evaluating them. Ginga worked hard to appear sincere, while Ryuga just stared with his jaw hanging open, completely dumbfounded.

Finally, he nodded. He moved quickly to the door and unlocked it with a key he had connected to his jeans by a chain. He gave a glance Ginga's way and said, "Thank you, I won't let you down. I'll be back soon." He slammed the door closed in his hurry and both teenagers heard the lock click back into place.

Realizing Ginga's plan, Ryuga beamed him a rare jewel of a smile. "Ginga, I'd kiss you if I could."

"No problem, now c'mon we gotta move," he replied a little unnerved by Ryuga's sudden outburst of affection.

He began wedging his feet out of his shoes, and to his surprise he was able to use the rope to keep the shoes in place while he pulled his feet free. He used his legs to slide across the floor to the bench but he soon discovered that dragging himself was taking up valuable time.

"Hop!" Ryuga said. "Hop, it'll be faster."

Following Ryuga's advice, Ginga bounced along to the bench. The method was surely quicker, but he hoped that Hyoma couldn't hear all the ruckus it created. He came to the bench which barely reached his collarbone. He laid eyes on the box of matches sitting there in the middle of the surface among other odd objects.

_'How the heck am I supposed to reach those?'_

Ginga felt a feeling of despair engage him. He looked to the candles. They had almost burned to their stumps, and he associated their flame's destiny to expire with his and Ryuga's own hopeless fate.

Then, by some incredulous miracle, he noticed the spare candles that sat next to the burning ones. One, long candle had rolled over the side of the counter and half of it hung off. Ginga bounced back a few spaces, (banging and screeching the chair as he did) took the end of the candle in his teeth and used its length to swat the matches onto the floor.

Despite the interference of his socks, Ginga picked up the box with his toes, bent his right leg over his knee and let it fall in his lap. If he were able to move his arms, he would have fist-pumped in victory right then and there. He slid back to Ryuga, even if it took him longer, he didn't want to risk dropping those damn matches.

By now, Ryuga had his hands out in front of him totally emancipated. When Ginga entered a close enough radius, he grasped the matches with his good hand. He checked the contents of the box and smiled when he saw that there were seven ignitable sticks. He pulled out a match, placed the box between his knees and held it there.

He lit the first match, but dropped it. "Damn!"

Ryuga retrieved another match, and this time he was able to burn the rope around his waist. Using another, he burnt each of the ties on his ankles.

Now that he was free, he took to Ginga's binds. He had to sit so as to hold the box in his knees. He winced a bit when he moved his leg up, and Ginga didn't miss that.

"What? Is your leg hurt?"

"It's from the fall. The fractures were only minor, I'm fine. Shut up so I can get you out."

"Your arm and your ribs were hurt too…"

"Like I said, they were minor and I heal fast."

After dropping yet another match and uttering a curse under his breath, Ryuga steadily lit the remaining matches to smolder the ropes on Ginga's waist and hands. Ginga stood up and raised his hands above his head in success. In his legs, he felt a strange wobbliness from being seated for so long. For a second, it looked like the two were about to hug, but thought better of it.

Ryuga limped slightly as they raced to the door with freedom on the tips of their tongues only to find that it was locked.


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade, but I sure am getting sick of saying it.**

* * *

**Chapter 9-**

Slamming a fist into the door, Ryuga groaned. "Damn! Forgot about that…"

"Well, what do we do now?"

The shirtless teen eyed Ginga's hips suggestively. "Give me one of your belts."

"What? No," Ginga blushed. "Why do you want my belt?"

"To use the prong to pick the lock, what do you think?"

"Why can't you use your belt?"

"Shut your face and give me a belt, Ginga. You have two of them."

Ginga sighed defeated. "Fine," He removed a belt and slapped it in Ryuga's open palm.

With one hand, Ryuga stuck the prong into the lock and moved it around. They both listened carefully for the _'clack'_ that would signal the lock's release.

"Let's hope this works… Hey, Ryuga how's your leg?"

"It's nothing I can't handle."

Ginga pursed his lips, put a hand on his hip and shifted his weight to one leg. "You know, you don't always have play so tough, nobody will think any less of you if you happen to ask for help once in a while. You may be strong, Ryuga but you're still human and you're allowed to show emotions. Who knows, if you were yourself more often like I saw you smiling a minute ago people might not be so scared of you. They might actually like you…"

Ginga worried about how he chose to word that last statement, but for the first time Ryuga didn't barrage him with a cutting insult.

"They don't have to _like_ me, but they _will_ respect me. I don't need anybody's approval, to do so would be incredibly naive. I learnt a while ago that fear is stronger than love. Building your life around love and friendship, it's like a slow form of suicide. Everyone will leave you in the end. But to have people fear you… to have them do anything in their power to avoid crossing you, to have them shudder when they hear your name and crumble in your presence… that's beautiful. I do as I please, when I please. I answer to no one. The feeling of power is indescribable, it's addicting in the same way heroin is."

Ginga cupped his chin in his other hand while he watched Ryuga continue to pick the lock.

"Maybe you're right, but isn't that point of view a little naive in itself? It's denying yourself something precious, because in my opinion that's what life is. Life is community and without community there is no life. You go through life thinking you have nobody, then that's what you'll get. If you take a risk sometimes and let somebody in, who knows what you'll find. Sure, a lot of your relations will end in broken promises, but everybody knows it's about the journey and the memories made. Ever wonder if we're not supposed to have certain friends forever? If we're just meant to have them in our lives for short time to teach us lessons and help us grow, then move on to the next adventure?"

Ryuga was silent for a while, then he looked up at Ginga and smiled. It wasn't his usual smirk that hid evil intentions, it was a real smile and it made Ginga double take, just to verify its reality. "I guess you're not a bumbling idiot ALL of the time, but enough with the inspirational talk."

**'Clack'** the door opened revealing a second, very narrow room housing a set of about 7 wooden steps that led up to another door. They bolted up the steps and pushed the door open; it was so heavy that it required extra effort of Ginga's part to budge it and Ryuga wondered how Hyoma could have managed getting through it time after time. Once beyond the door, it was the smell of fresh air that struck them first. They reveled in the glory of it, embracing their escape.

It wasn't long before they realized that they were standing in the underground car park of the hospital. The door banged shut with a thud causing them to wheel around so fast that Ginga almost lost balance, and then they saw that the passage they had just come from was completely hidden. No hinges or lines indicated that there was anything there at all, and to an unknowing eye it would appear as just a wall. Nothing more, nothing less.

Right next to that secretive pathway, was an elevator.

Ginga pushed the elevator button repeatedly thinking that doing so would make it come faster. When it finally arrived, Ginga and Ryuga almost jumped in. Ryuga, dropping all his selfish pride grabbed Ginga's shoulder and shook it. The small gesture of appreciation was over so quick that Ginga wasn't sure it even happened, but Ryuga's blushing face proved as evidence. As the elevator took them up to the first floor, Ginga couldn't help but smile to himself.

Then, their carriage came to a stop. The doors opened and Ginga's smile vanished as he caught sight of familiar brown boots. He let his eyes wonder up to the person's face and saw that before them, stood an equally shocked Hyoma clutching two pieces of paper and a pair of pens.

Ryuga had clearly had enough. He reeled back his movable fist and punched Hyoma square in the face. Ginga's jaw hurt just from watching the impact. Hyoma crumpled to the ground unconscious.

"I kind of feel bad for him," muttered Ginga softly.

"Don't make me laugh," Ryuga replied, his usual smirk bracing his face. He bent down into a squat and slapped the pockets on Hyoma's pants. "Lookie what I found."

Ryuga pulled two round, shining objects from Hyoma's pockets. He handed one to Ginga.

"Pegasus!" Ginga yelled. He rubbed the Bey on his face.

Curling his fingers around his own Bey, Ryuga simply smiled and said, "My friend, we've been apart for too long. Come to Daddy."

Finally reunited with their Beys, they raced down the corridor noticing the light of day pouring through the open windows and casting their shadows on the opposite wall.

When they reached the front desk, Ginga was brought to his knees with the relief that the sight of his four friends blessed upon him. Talking to a nurse and a heavy set police officer, was Hikaru, Kyoya, Masamune and Madoka who's gentle face was stained with tears.

"Madoka!" Ginga bounded towards her.

"Ginga? Ryuga?" All six of the latter voices exclaimed in surprise. Ginga and Madoka ran to each other, he picked her up on contact, twirled her around twice and embraced her tightly.

Hikaru and Kyoya lent on each other smiling as they looked on. Masamune, realizing he had no one to hug approached a solitary Ryuga with his arms stretched wide.

"Don't think about it. Touch me, and I'll rearrange your face so fast you won't even_ know_ about it 'till you see it on the six o'clock news tomorrow."

Masamune threw his hands up and went to hug the nurse instead.

"R-Ryuga, what happened to you?" Hikaru asked as she looked over the mutilations scaring his body.

"And these look like rope burns," Madoka added tracing the rashes on Ginga's wrists with a slender finger.

Ryuga turned and began walking down the hallway in the direction he had come from. "We'll show you."

"Yeah Officer, you better check this out," Ginga motioned to the policeman and the group followed Ryuga to the elevator. When they got there, everyone exchanged curious glances.

Ryuga shrugged.

The cop turned to Ginga. "There's nothing here, kid. What's going on?"

"I don't know," his voice fell to a whisper. "He's gone."

* * *

**The Next Evening**

Ginga and Ryuga were admitted as patients in the hospital for the second time each that week. Their friends sat around the room they were sharing as two police guarded on the other side of the door to make sure they were safe from Hyoma despite how much Ryuga insisted that he didn't need protecting.

Ryuga had his hand plastered. The nurse was incredibly surprised by how quickly his fractures from the fall at Masamune's had healed. He also copped a two hour long surgery to receive stitching, treatment of burns and thorough skull examinations.

Madoka sat on the end of Ginga's bed with her hand on his knee as a comforting gesture. "I'm just so glad you guys are safe," she sighed.

"You can thank Ryuga for that," Ginga smiled and bobbed his head in Ryuga's direction. "If I didn't have his instructions and quick mind… well, I'd probably not be sitting here with you right now."

Pausing momentarily, Ryuga shrugged and turned to face the nearby window. "Team effort."

Masamune stretched himself across the armrest on his chair and whispered to Kyoya who sat in a seat beside him with Hikaru on his lap. "Is that his way of trying to be nice?"

"Uh, he can hear you." Kyoya nodded towards Ryuga who stared daggers at the back of Masamune's head.

Surprisingly, Ryuga's gaze softened. "Maybe. Take it as it is, because you'll get no more kindness from me."

"Yes sir!" Masamune saluted.

"'Scuse me," a police man poked his head through the doorway. "I'd juss like ta give you guys an update on the whole sishuashun."

"Give us the news," interjected Kyoya.

"Well, I gots around twenny men searchin' 'dis hospital, but there's been so sightin' of this Hyoma character. We don' think he's 'ere. We also checked out 'dat underground room he 'ad you lads in an' we got enough evidence ta put 'im in a correctional center or a mental hospital. There'll be a warrant out for 'im, we'll catch 'im."

"Thanks sir," replied Ginga. His voice sounded slightly blue.

"Yeah, thanks," added the others.

Wringing his hat in his hands, the police man left and Madoka, noticing his sadness turned to Ginga. "Why so glum, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing… It's just, well I kind of feel bad for him. I didn't know he felt so left out, so misunderstood and not appreciated."

Masamune become agitated, his face scrunched in confusion like he'd just been given a surprise math quiz. He jumped up and stomped a foot on the ground. "He tried to kill you!"

"I have to agree with Masamune on this one," Kyoya added before catching himself. "Wow, never thought I'd hear myself say that."

Hikaru nodded. Ryuga hadn't yet looked away from the window. Outside, two white birds sat nestled into each other's plumage in a tree close to the window, but Ryuga didn't notice them. He wasn't watching anything, he was deep in thought.

"I know, but-"

Ginga was cut off as Ryuga left his bed and made his way over to the window sill. He placed a hand on the framing, lent on it, and sighed. "He's out there, but where? I hope he's not dead…"

"Not you too," Masamune whined. "C'mon, you're supposed to be the hard guy!"

"I don't wish him well, not at all. I just don't want him to die by another hand or by his own actions. I'm going to be the one who gets to do those honors."

For the very first time in his life, Masamune had nothing to say.

"Somehow, I don't think this is over." Hikaru shuddered as she spoke. Kyoya put an arm around her and stroked her shoulder with his thumb.

Madoka crawled up the bed and sat beside Ginga to be closer to him. In return, he smiled at her in that goofy way of his. Suddenly, his stomach groaned in protest.

"Hey, how long 'till they bring us dinner?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, so I_ did_ have a pretty good ending for this story, but then I reread what I'd already posted and noticed a massive plot-hole so I had to come up with a new ending.**

**Just gonna say one last time that I can't thank this fandom enough for the support with my first Fic. It's been great :)**

**I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

**Chapter 10-**

**Two Weeks Later**

"You want orange or lemonade?" Hikaru asked as she held two bottles of soda in her hands and see-sawed them up and down.

"um, give me orange please," Madoka replied.

"Orange it is then."

The girls stood in a kitchen pouring drinks for their boyfriends and friends. The kitchen obviously belonged to a male. The place was trashed, yet it wasn't dirty. It was unkempt and messy, but not dirty.

"Let's just not have any accidents tonight, hey?" Madoka ran a ringer across the top of the microwave and inspected the dust she'd gathered.

Hikaru laughed. "Agreed," she said and she handed three glasses to Madoka. "Help me take these to the lounge room?"

Walking in a rather awkward manner so as to not spill their drinks, they reached the lounge room and felt their hearts warm to the core. Something felt right about their surroundings.

Kyoya sat slouched right into a raggedy looking couch with his hands in his pockets, watching Ginga and Masamune wrestle each other to the death in front of him. Kyoya yawned and his half lidded eyes further illustrated his boredom. On the balcony, Ryuga could be seen gazing off into the afternoon sun, his coat tail flowing in a gentle draft.

"This is my apartment," Masamune growled through clenched teeth. "So I get to choose what we watch."

Ginga had him pinned to the carpet, but Masamune's fingers clung to the remote for dear life. "I'm the guest!"

Kyoya, Hikaru and Madoka could see that their dispute wasn't going to let up any time soon. The girls engaged each other in conversation while Kyoya stood up to reach for two drinks in Hikaru's hands.

"Thanks," he said and let a lazy smile cross his face, then he went out on the balcony to join Ryuga.

"Still hung up on waiting for him?" Kyoya asked, though he wasn't really prepared to listen to the answer. He thrust a drink towards Ryuga.

Ryuga, suddenly ripped away from his train of thought, accepted the drink and nodded in thanks. He took a sip before squinting at the sun again. "I'll find him."

Kyoya took a swig of his own glass. "How do you know? He could be anywhere by now."

"Because I've made up my mind, I'm serious about this. This was never any child's game of schoolyard tag, I'm a hunter and he's my prey… Besides, I've had a hunch he's going to show up sooner than we thought him stupid enough to do. He's around, I feel it."

Swallowing the last of his drink, Kyoya put the glass on the ground, replaced his hands in his pockets and yawned again. He didn't reply and Ryuga didn't expect him to.

With a gulping sound, Ryuga tossed back his soda too. "You wanna go watch the movie?"

"With them two? You can't be serious." He glared at Masamune and Ginga through the glass door, who were entwined together in such an odd position, you'd swear there should have been a 'Twister' mat underneath them.

"Just playin' with you."

In a sort of content silence, the Lion Tamer and the Dragon Emperor stood together side by side and watched the sun retire.

Inside the apartment, there was a knock at the door. Ginga and Masamune stopped wrestling.

Masamune bent his head back, "Must be the pizza."

"I'll get it," Ginga told his opponent as he climbed off of him.

He practically sprinted to the door and opened it, one hand fumbling in his back pocket for his wallet.

A blonde girl of about Ginga's age with make up so eccentric, she could easily be mistaken for a failed Picasso painting stood before him. In long nailed hands she held 6 stacked boxes of pizza.

"Delivery, now pay up," she said, popping gum. She pressed a croak into her voice which was very obviously fake, though perhaps she thought it made her sound sexy. Ginga had to suppress a giggle.

Ginga held up a wad of paper notes and they swapped items. He thanked her, and he probably would have told her to have a nice night too, if he wasn't so scared of laughter bursting out instead.

She looked him up and down suspiciously, and went to turn away when she slammed a hand on the closing door. "Wait," she said, forgetting to use that awful croak as she spoke. "I got something else for you."

The walking abstract artwork handed Ginga a post-it-note sized piece of paper.

"What's this?"

"I dunno, it's not from me. This guy downstairs in the car park stopped me and asked where I was taking those pizzas. I told him they were for apartment 6, and then he just about threw that note at me. Told me to give it to you with the pizza."

Ginga looked down at the note in his hands. By now, Masamune had waddled over wondering what was taking so long. He read the note over Ginga's shoulder out loud.

"I'll be watching, I'll be waiting, don't walk alone at night time.

Lock the door, lock the window, you've got to sleep sometime."

Ryuga had entered the apartment from the balcony with Kyoya behind him. He'd heard every word Masamune just said and now, he ran past the pizza girl down the stairs almost sending her flying. Kyoya followed without hesitation.

The girl began to recollect herself and was about to shout some sort of profanity at Ryuga when she was knocked back again by Ginga and Masamune. The note gently fell to the floor.

"Sorry," Ginga called as he disappeared in a flash of red hair.

Readjusting her hat, she saw Madoka emerge from the apartment with Hikaru in pursuit and extend a hand to pull her up. She took Madoka's hand and rose to her feet, straightening out her dorky work uniform.

"Sorry about them," Hikaru uttered. "They've all got issues."

"_Big ones_," the girl retorted venomously.

Madoka started hopping down the steps, "Come on, lets go see what they're up to before all hell breaks loose downstairs."

Hikaru and Madoka descended the stairs and stepped out into the tiny car park with Picasso's lost masterpiece in tow. There, they found the boys frantically running around in search of whoever left them that mysterious little message. Off in the distance, a car alarm sounded and screamed blue-murder through the night.

Masamune's head popped up from behind a car. "Don't think he's here, boys."

Ryuga crept up out of the darkness behind the girls. When he spoke, all three yelped as a result of the surprise. "You girl, the guy that gave you that note, what did he look like? What was he wearing?"

Perhaps she saw something in Ryuga that she fancied, because that stupid croak found its way back into her voice. She looked at the ground, put her hands behind her back and said, "Well, I'm not sure. He had a hood on, and the shadow from it made it hard to see his face. I didn't really get time to check out his clothes, I mean he pretty much vanished after he gave me the letter… But, he was smoking and it didn't really seem like he was used to the nicotine because he staggered and almost fell over after each drag he took. He's probably one of those people that smoke for the stigma. It's a dirty habit really, don't you think?"

Ryuga didn't reply, he merely swung himself around to face the eerie night and grunted some unidentifiable word, balling his fists.

Masamune came out from behind the car he was looking at and kicked an imaginary can across the tar with a very protesting "Aww, man…"

Kyoya continued searching through nearby shrubs, determined that he would survey every inch of that little block car park until he found what he was looking for.

Ginga sat on a curb that bordered the edges of the car park driveway only a few yards away. A streetlight hung above him, making him clear to the eye though surrounded my darkness. It bathed him in a yellow tinge, and the chillness of the night air created a soft mist in its glow.

Ryuga noticed and slowly made his way over to join him. He stood by Ginga, his shadow pooling under his feet. For a moment he was silent, maybe trying to read Ginga's thoughts. What a silly idea, Ryuga may posses many powers that your ordinary human would find supernatural in a way, but mind reading wasn't one of them. He's spent a good few years of his childhood finding that out.

Finally, he sat down beside him on the curb. It surprised him a little when Ginga spoke first.

"I suppose you'll be taking off pretty soon, you'll go on another travel."

Stunned again, Ryuga wondered if Ginga was actually a mind reader himself. He straightened up and said, "What makes you say that?"

"It's not very likely you'll hang around much longer, you're itching to find Hyoma just as much as I am. But the difference here is that you want to go _looking_ for him, I guess. Whereas me, I'd like to find him too but I won't leave Madoka alone with him lurking around. I'll have to wait for him."

Ryuga knew Ginga was right, it was as if Ginga had rivaled and allied the Dragon Wielder for so long that he knew what Ryuga would do, even before the thought crossed his own mind.

After a short silence, "Does that make you sad? Me leaving, does it make you sad?"

"Actually, I don't know why but I think it does. I mean, you're always just appearing and disappearing, but this time, we shared a lot."

Ryuga didn't answer, he felt uneasy to hear Ginga pour his heart out to him and serve it in a cocktail glass, but he simply couldn't bring himself to repay any affection. He was just too macho for that.

"You'll be gone before dawn," Ginga said. He supported his elbow on his knee and rested his cheek in his hand.

"Look, even if all this hadn't happened, I'd still need to go. I just can't stay in one place for too long. I But I'll be back, and this time when I return I'll have Hyoma's head."

Ginga laughed. "You're such a kidder," he said. His hearty chortle alerted the attention of the others who now turned to see Ginga and Ryuga sitting together.

Rolling his eyes, Ryuga knew in his own twisted and confused psyche that he wasn't kidding in the slightest.

"What'll you do if he comes for you before I find him?" Ryuga asked, changing the subject.

"Call the cops."

"That's all?"

"Yeah, he may have tried to kill us, but my friendship with him goes way back. There's no way I could bring myself to harm him."

"What if he goes for Madoka first?"

"Then I'll…" he thought for a moment. "Well, then I'll have no choice but to bonk him on the head with something until the cops get there."

On cue, they both swirled around to where they swore the rest were still standing. But they saw nothing but an empty car park, littered with only a few vacant vehicles.

"Must have gone back upstairs," Ryuga said. The temperature had dropped drastically, his breath condensed in front of him.

"Doesn't matter. It's nice to be out under the stars sometimes."

"You're forgetting something."

"What?"

"There's pizza up there, and so is Masamune. Don't doubt for a second that he's already finished off all six boxes."

"Uh-oh," Ginga seized up and let the thought sink I for a bit, before scrambling to his feet and rushing towards the apartment entrance.

Ryuga chuckled to himself, once again an expression of pure entertainment rather than spite, and he slowly followed Ginga. His boots made a solid, hollow sound on contact with the ground. He knew where he was going in the morning, it wasn't just a purposeless journey this time. He had a mission, and now, he had a place to come back to when he'd fulfilled the secret oath he held to himself that was to find Hyoma.

He was so content with himself that in fact, he missed the rustling in the thorn bush that Kyoya had checked over only minutes before. He passed it without a second glance, looking forward to the charade that would be going on upstairs right about now. He entered through the door and let it fall closed behind him with a thud.

Seconds after, the 'swch, swch' of a lighter voiced soon followed by a nasty, potent odor of burning nicotine. From behind that bush, stepped a hooded figure.

"See you soon, Ryuga," Hyoma muttered as he breathed out a cloud of smoke that ghosted up into the night atmosphere, crossing a radiant full moon that hung low on the glittering, deep, navy blue blanket that was the sky that evening.

As Hyoma started walking, he stumbled a bit, dizzy with a chronic head spin brought on by the cigarette. His body still wasn't used to the nicotine, and he wasn't sure it ever would be.


End file.
